Chapter 64: The Atoning Man
"You're not really a 'Sheep' after all," Qi Xia said to the Human Pig. "When we first encountered the Human Sheep, it gave us a lot of trouble. You thought adding a lying mechanism to your game would increase your chances of winning, but you never expected that choice would be your downfall."
The Human Pig was silent for a moment, then reached up and removed the mask from his face.
Beneath that filthy, stinking mask was a man with regular features, about forty years old, with wisdom shining in his eyes.
"What a pity, I was so close," the Human Pig said. "So close to walking out of here with my head held high."
Qi Xia's eyes flickered slightly, and he asked, "Human Pig, what exactly does it mean to 'walk out with your head held high'?"
The Human Pig was startled. He looked again at the young man before him, feeling that he resembled his younger self.
"Qi Xia, have you ever made a mistake?"
"A mistake?" Qi Xia thought seriously. The word 'mistake' was not easy to understand. From one perspective, his entire career was a mistake. From another, he had no choice; this was the only path.
"Not about the 'law'," the Human Pig continued. "I mean the kind of mistake that completely alters the trajectory of your life. The mistake that fills you with regret, that makes you repent for the rest of your life—the 'error' that forces you to atone."
Qi Xia's brow furrowed deeply. Something deep in his mind was racing wildly.
"What do you mean?" Qi Xia asked coldly.
"We are all guilty people..." the Human Pig said bitterly. "As expected, guilty people cannot attain the 'Dao'. In the end, I will still die here..."
Guilty people cannot attain the 'Dao'?
Qi Xia felt he had heard that phrase before.
"Qi Xia, do you know? Business is like gambling," the Human Pig said slowly, standing up and searching through a drawer for something. "I once gambled all of our group's liquid capital on a 'hope'. Looking back now, it was no different from 'betting my life'."
After searching for a long time, he pulled an old revolver from the drawer.
He blew the dust off the gun, opened the cylinder to check the single bullet remaining, and continued, "At the time, my chances of success were less than fifty percent. All the other shareholders on the board opposed it. But I knew I was only gambling with liquid capital; it wouldn't bankrupt the group. Instead, it gave a glimmer of hope for future development. But who would have thought... a global infectious disease suddenly broke out, severely damaging the group's earnings. Later, due to insufficient liquid capital to sustain operations, we suffered continuous losses."
The Human Pig looked at Qi Xia with desperate eyes: "I thought I was betting on a ticket to heaven, but I never expected to end up in hell."
With that, he continued wiping the barrel meticulously.
Qi Xia felt that the Human Pig's words somewhat clarified his doubts: "So you think this place is hell?"
"Who knows?" The Human Pig shook his head. "It was a group I built with my own hands, yet in the end, the board fired me. As chairman, I lost my power. To pay off debts, I sold my shares at a low price. My wife started the business with me from scratch, but in the end, I couldn't even afford the money for her medical treatment. My daughter, studying abroad, couldn't continue her education and ended up as a notorious prostitute on campus. Compared to the real world, this place is my heaven. I don't have to think about anything every day. I only need to find ways to make you people die."
The Human Pig's tone grew increasingly unsteady: "I often wonder, what if I hadn't gambled on that fifty percent chance? What would have happened?"
Qi Xia was silent for a long time before finally uttering four words: "You bet, you lose."
"Ha, haha..." The Human Pig suddenly seemed dazed, laughing bitterly. "Yes, you bet, you lose."
"But there's still one thing I don't understand..." Qi Xia spoke again.
The Human Pig lifted his deep eyes to look at Qi Xia, then said slowly, "I've answered too many of your questions. That's unfair to the other participants."
"What?" Qi Xia was puzzled. "Can't this information be told to us?"
Hearing this, the Human Pig opened the revolver's cylinder, spun it rapidly, then flicked his wrist to snap it back into place.
Slowly, he raised the gun and pressed it against his temple.
"Let 'fate' decide," the Human Pig said. "Every time you ask me a question, I'll pull the trigger once. As long as the gun doesn't fire, I'll answer you."
Qi Xia sighed helplessly at the sight. "You were once a group chairman. Don't you want to die with some dignity?"
"Dignity..." The Human Pig smiled bitterly. "I've been wearing this stinking, filthy pig head for a long time. What dignity is there to speak of?"
"In that case..." Qi Xia nodded. "Then I'll be blunt, Uncle. Why did you willingly become the 'Human Pig'?"
*Click!!*
The Human Pig pulled the trigger without hesitation, not even blinking.
The gun didn't fire.
"Because I need to 'atone'," the Human Pig replied. "Someone told me that as long as I wear the mask and use games to send participants to their deaths, I can eventually atone for my sins."
"What does 'atone' mean?"
*Click!*
The gun didn't fire.
The Human Pig sighed. "The so-called atonement means being able to change your past, to make up for the mistakes you committed. After all, all 'Zodiacs' are 'sinners'."
Qi Xia connected the fragmented clues in his mind, feeling somewhat incredulous. He organized his words and asked, "So you once had a chance to leave, but you didn't. Instead, you chose to stay here to 'atone'?"
*Click!*
The Human Pig frowned. As he had said, Qi Xia had incredibly strong 'luck'. Three consecutive pulls, and the gun still hadn't fired.
"I'm not sure if I could leave, but I stayed," the Human Pig continued. "I hope none of you have made mistakes. Otherwise, you'll end up like me, willingly choosing to stay here. Because staying here gives a faint glimmer of hope."
Qi Xia slowly stepped closer, asking very seriously, "Then what is the quickest way to get out of here?"
*Click!!*
The Human Pig closed his eyes, trembling all over, but the gun still didn't fire.
"I'm not sure," the Human Pig said. "Three thousand six hundred 'Dao' is obviously the slowest method. Even with the mask, there are still many things I don't know. After all, I am still 'human'. If you want to uncover the truth of this place, you'll have to find a way to defeat 'Heaven' and 'Earth'."
He paused, then added, "No... don't delude yourself into defeating 'Heaven'. Just defeating 'Earth' is enough. The 'Heaven, Earth, and Human Three-Tiered Zodiacs' are arranged from top to bottom, all with 'Dragon' as the leader. If you want to survive in this place, first—don't provoke 'Heaven'; second—don't go up against 'Dragon'."
The Human Pig's four answers had indeed clarified Qi Xia's thoughts considerably. It seemed escaping this place wasn't as difficult as he had imagined.
He had no more questions for the Human Pig. But the other man still held the gun, a complex expression in his eyes.
Qi Xia knew the fifth pull had a fifty percent chance of death; the sixth was a hundred percent.
The scene before him felt familiar, as if he had returned to the moment of betting his life on a fifty percent chance.
Qi Xia stood up, turned toward the exit. Lin Qin and Old Lyu, not understanding his intent, slowly followed.
Just as he was about to leave, Qi Xia turned and asked his fifth question: "Uncle, do you regret it?"
Having said that, he didn't wait for the Human Pig's reply. He turned and walked away with Lin Qin and Old Lyu.
The vast chess hall was now empty, with only the Human Pig sitting alone in the center.
He pondered for a long time, then slowly uttered three words:
"Thank you."
A loud gunshot echoed. The Human Pig fell.